In a landslide vote last month, members of Thailand’s House of Representatives supported legislation that would bring integrated resorts (IRs) with casinos to the Southeast Asian kingdom.
According to GGRAsia, in a March 27 session, 253 of 257 lawmakers in the National Assembly’s lower chamber approved the plan. Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said a report on the issue would go to the cabinet for further review.
In a note the following day, Maybank Investment Bank analysts predicted that if Thailand approves a legal industry, the first IRs could open as early as 2029—a year before Japan’s first entertainment complex with gaming is scheduled to debut.
Thailand casinos could take a bite out of business at IRs in Singapore and Cambodia, said Maybank analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang. In his view, Genting Singapore, which runs Resorts World Sentosa in the city-state, and Naga Corp., operator of NagaWorld in Phnom Penh, “are most exposed.” But he added, “Five years is a long time,” giving existing IRs a chance to boost their competitiveness.
Thailand’s proposed gaming tax rate is “low at 17 percent … the second lowest in ASEAN after Cambodia,” he continued. Gross gaming revenue would be taxed at 20 percent to 30 percent.
In other details, bidders would have to be “locally incorporated and have paid up capital of more than THB10 billion (US$270 million)” in order to vie for the 20-year licenses, which would be renewable every five years.
“Four different investment sizes are envisioned but the first phase,” he added, with the largest “commanding minimum capex of THB100 billion (US$2.7 billion).”
In addition, Yin wrote, “Locals will be subject to a yet-to-be-determined casino entry levy and will be prohibited from entering casinos if requested by court orders or family members.”
In addition to Bangkok, possible IR locations include the Eastern Economic Corridor, encompassing Rayong, Chonburi and Chachoengsao; southern Thailand, including Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi); northern Thailand, including Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Lampang); and the northeast, home of Nong Khai, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen and Nakhon Ratchasima.
Social safeguards, “à la Singapore,” will be proposed to help curb problem gambling, Yin said.
Licenses would be awarded in phases, with up to eight IRs be built—up from the originally proposed inventory of five IRs.
“The whole idea of entertainment centers is to attract more tourists,” Yin added. According to Bloomberg News, IRs could help boost tourism spend by 52 percent per person, per trip. Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development Council has set a goal of 80 million arrivals by foreigners annually by the year 2027—more than the country’s current population.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, an ardent supporter of IRs, said a legal market will offset “the gray economy,” illicit gambling that operates without regulation and without paying taxes.
“The entertainment complexes will enhance the country’s tourism industry,” Srettha posted on X. “In the past, we have wasted enough time and opportunity. The government will reclaim the lost time and turn it into an economic opportunity for the country and its citizens.”
Joji Kokuryo, managing director of Bay City Ventures in Japan, told Inside Asian Gaming that casinos in Thailand would “certainly take market and player attention away from any IR in Japan, especially when it comes to attracting visitors from Southeast Asia and South China.” He said Thailand also offers better terms for operators and investors.
“Thailand’s proposed framework clearly improves on the more scrutinized aspects of the Japan IR initiative, with longer initial license of 20 years compared to Japan’s 10 years, favorable taxing on GGR at 17 percent compared to Japan’s 30 percent, and the scalability of resort sizes and investments tailored to each market, unlike Japan’s one size-fits-all facility requirements,” he said.
“The Japanese government should be very concerned that Thailand and other new Asian markets such as the UAE are taking investor and operator interest away from any further Japan IR bidding rounds.”
As for Thailand’s effect on Singapore, Yin noted that Resorts World Sentosa in that market opened three months before Marina Bay Sands, “but it is MBS that is leading now in terms of market share. It’s all about the product and location.”
